Cabinet locking mechanism



March 29, 1960 B CABINET LOCKING MECHANISM Filed July 5, 1957 INVENTOR.

(W456i? c/T 367;

Uflited States Patent CABINET LOCKING MECHANISM Charles J. Ibel, Long Island City, N.Y., assignor to Supreme Steel Equipment Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y., a

corporation of New York Application July '5, 1957, Serial No. 670,026

'3 Claims. (Cl. 312-218) For example, the prior art mechanisms are frequently exceedingly complex in nature, expensive of construction and difficult of manufacture.

Furthermore, these devices because of their complexity easily get out of adjustment and need repair often.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a. means for locking a series of doors in a filing cabinet which is a simple construction and economical of manufacture.

It is also among the objects of this invention to provide a means whereby certain doors in a filing cabinet may be locked while others remain unlocked.

It is still further among the objects of this invention to provide a locking means of rugged construction which will readily stand up under the normal wear and tear to which it is to be subjected.

In practicing this invention, there is provided a cabinet having at least one door pivotally suspended from a pair of door studs. These studs are permanently mounted on the cabinet and the door is adapted to be opened by pivoting about said studs until the door is in a horizontal plane, after which it is slid into the cabinet itself. This is accomplished by permitting the door studs to slide along the inner surface of the door itself.

One edge of the door, preferably the lower edge, is provided with a channel shaped member, which extends inwardly and upwardly of the lower edge of the door itself.

There is also provided at least one and preferably two locking straps which are positioned on the sides of the cabinet and adapted to be shifted in a vertical direction. Carried on these straps are a plurality of locking studs which are permanently mounted thereon, passing through the wall of said cabinet and projecting inwardly thereof.

The locking studs are so positioned that when the locking strap is in its uppermost position, the upstanding portion of the door channel is not engaged by the locking stud and the door is free to be opened. When, however, the locking strap is in its lower position, the locking stud then fits within the aforementioned door channel and the upstanding portion of said channel bears against said locking stud. This effectively prevents the door from being opened.

It is, of course, more desirable to provide two straps, one on each side of the cabinet with the corresponding studs projecting inwardly and when the doors are locked, engaging the door channel on both sides. This provides a more secure and firm lock.

The movement of the locking strap is accomplished by means of a lock rotatably mounted on the cabinet and having a swivel bar permanently attached thereto.

In the preferred form of the invention embodying two locking straps, the aforementioned swivel bar is pivotedabout its center and carries locking arms thereon. Each of these arms is pivotally mounted at a point on the swivel bar spaced away from the center thereof, one of said arms being pivotally mounted on each side of the aforementioned center.

Each of the opposite ends of said locking arms is pivotally mounted on a locking plate, which plate in turn is also pivotally mounted at a point removed from the point at which the said arm is mounted and adapted to engage the locking straps through a slot cut therein for that purpose.

If the cabinet is unlocked, it is merely necessary to grasp the door desired to be opened, pivot said door about the door studs until the plane of the door is roughly horizontal and then slide the door into the space between the compartments of the cabinet. To lock the cabinet, the doors are first closed by following a procedure the reverse of that described above. then inserted in the lock and the lock itself carrying the swivel bar is rotated in a clockwise direction. This movement causes the locking arms to move toward the locking straps. In turn, urged by said arms, the locking plates pivot and assume a position whereby the ends of said plates enter into the slot provided in the locking strap, bear down upon said strap and cause it to shift downwardly in relation to the cabinet itself.

As a result of this movement, the locking studs are also shifted downward and engage the upstanding portion of the door channels. This effectively locks the entire cabinet.

Of course, in order to unlock the cabinet, the reverse procedure is followed and when the locking plates are withdrawn from the slots in the locking straps, the springs attached to the locking straps urge them upward to the Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of one portion of Fig. 1

showing part of the locking mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary exploded view of the operating mechanism of this invention viewed from the inside of the cabinet;

Fig. 4 is a View partly in section of the locking mecha nism shown in the open position, and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 in the locked position.

A cabinet 1 provided with doors 2 has a lock 3 mounted thereon. Door 2 is suspended by upper door channel 4 from door studs 6 mounted in door channels 8 which in turn are permanently afiixed to inner cabinet wall 9. At the edge of door 2 opposite upper door channel 4 is lower door channel 5 having upstanding portion 27.

Outside the inner wall 9 is mounted locking strap 12, being biased upward by spring 15 attached through hole 16 to strap 12 and attached to the cabinet frame 14 at point 28.

Carried on locking strap 12 is locking stud 7 passing through elongated opening 10 in inner wall 9 and extending beyond to a position adjacent channel 5. Locking strap 12 is also provided at its lower end with a slot 17 adapted to receive locking plate 22. An additional slot 19 of greater length than slot 17 is provided in inner wall 9. Preferably this slot constitutes an opening in a plate 18 for strength and rigidity.

Lock 3 has mounted thereon swivel bar 29 at point 26. The lock is rotatable and carries with it swivel bar 29. In order to more easily describe this device, only one half of the locking mechanism will be discussed, with A suitable key is the understanding that the other half operates in precisely the same manner.

At point 25, locking arm 20 is pivotally mounted on swivel bar 29. The other end of locking arm 20 is pivotally mounted on looking plate 22 at point 21. Locking plate 22 is also pivoted about point 23-,which point is niounted on the cabinet at bracket 24.

To lock the doors of this cabinet, a key is inserted in lock- 3 and the entire lock turned clock-wise as shown by the arrow in Fig. 4. This clock-wise motion carries with it swivel bar 29 which in turn causes locking arm 26 to assume the position shown in Fig. 5. This causes locking plate :22 through the linkage of locking arm 2% and pivot 21 to pivot aboht point 23 and assume the position shown in Fig. In doing so, end portion 3-3 of locking plate 22 passes through elongated slot 1? in inner 'Wflil 9 and enas s. ackin tr .2 t r h ts o 17 This mQ Q causes locking strap 12 to assume a position substantially e w th sh wn s He shifi. the P rt f. lo k n strap 2 causes, o n tuds 7 FQ hi ikewi e through l n t d, o n inner wall 9 and to assume a position within lower door channel At h s Poi t s andin o o 2 f lower doo hases! 5 is en a ed, b lock g studs 7. Thus the door is securely locked against any' unauthorized opening.

To unlock the cabinet, a key is inserted in lock 3 and the entire lock turned counter-clockwise so that the swivel bar 29 assumes the position shown in Fig. 4. This causes locking plate 22 to pivot about point 23 and assume the position shown in 4. Since end portion 39 no longer bears upon locking strap 12, said strap under the urging 0t spring shifts upwards, causing locking studs 7 to assume the position shown in Fig. 3'. At this point, the

. nn r whims o loc in studs 7 a displaced beyond the upper edge of upstanding portion 27 of lower door channel 5, and consequently the door 2 may be swung open at will. 1

1 .1 order at ce a n, dose m be o e n o er rernain unlpglged at all times, it is possible to remove the, locking studs corresponding to certain doors which are dssiredto remain unlocked, In the absence of these studs, bvi us y 0 l ck n n ur- I i 8. W t in he P O h inventiflfl t P Q d a locking means which is biased downwardly instead of upwardly as in the embodiment described herein, In this case the locking mechanism as disclosed in Figs. 4 and 5 ou d simply e n e d t o e a p o y- Furt amw th l ok itse 'ma be p ace m s ywhere on the cabinet subject only to the structural rea rsme s Qf h s nvention.

' While it is preferable tq have one looking strap on each ide o he ab n tan cor pondin o k pl and associated mechanism, it is possible to practice this invention by means of a single locking strap on one side of the cabinet. This will, of course, not secure the doors as well as the preferred embodiment but is an operable mechanism. In this event, of course, only one half of the locking mechanism is necessary, as is apparent to one skilled in the art.

These and other changes, in the, details of the construction may be made without departing from the principles herein set forth, and the invention is, therefore, to be broadly construed and not to be limited except by the character of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. A cabinet having at least one door pivotally suspended from a pair of door studs which are permanently mounted on said cabinet, apair of door channels approximately perpendicular to the door when said door is in its closed position, said door studs located near the front end of said channels, said door adapted for pivoting about said o r u s nt he p ne. o a h s rt n. nto sa d. channels, a locking means including at least one'locking ap h ng at east one kin u p ec in there rom d P s n nwa d y hr u a a of aid c bine n pr j c i a y of sa d l means. or h t i sv said "strap and said locking stud carried thereon in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the strap, at least one edge of said door being so shaped as to engage said look; ing stud when said strap is at one extreme position and disengage said locking stud when the strap is at the other extreme position.

2. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the means for shifting said strap and said locking stud carried thereon includes a rotatable lock, a swivel bar pivotally mounted on said lock at a pivot point, a locking arrn hav ing one end pivotally mounted on said swivel bar at a point spaced away from said pivot point, the other end of said arm being pivotally mounted on a locking plate,

said locking plate actuated by said arm and adapted to engage and cause said strap to shift along its longitudinal axis.

3. A cabinet according to claim 2 wherein the locking strap is biased in one direction and the locking plate is adapted to urge said strap in the opposite direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 564,401 Wernicke July 21, 1896 681,155 Tobey n Aug. 20, 1901 1,716,274 Jones June 4, 1929 2,091,382 Swimmer Aug. 31, 1937 2,681,520 Paulsen et a1 June 22, 1954' 2,744,782 Backman May 8, 1956 2,803,203 Henkel Aug. 20, 19 57 

